


Sleepless in Central City

by helsinkibaby



Series: Partners [7]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Het, Partners to Lovers, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 14:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5932324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At midnight, Joe tries to convince Caitlin to go home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleepless in Central City

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: free for all  
> Prompt: midnight

Joe lifts his head from his stack of paperwork, looks first at his watch, then across his desk at Caitlin. She is staring at her computer like she wants to throw it out the nearest window and her finger stabs at the mouse, her grip white knuckled. Her face is a mask of mingled fury and impatience and he knows her well enough to see the fear she'll never show to anyone but him. 

The dim light of the precinct and the blue glare of her computer screen do little to hide the pallor of her cheeks, or the fact that her eyes are rimmed in red, dark circles under them that her makeup is doing a poor job of hiding after a long day futilely searching for Eddie. Her shoulders, her entire body is tense, tense enough that Joe feels his own body starting to ache just looking at her. Scratch that, he decides as he shifts in his seat; he was already aching with tiredness. It's just magnified by looking at Caitlin. 

"Partner." His voice cracks on the word like he's some pimply adolescent and he can't remember the last time that happened to him. It's a mark of how long they've been working in silence and he can't remember the last time that happened either. She doesn't react, doesn't move, so he tries again. "Partner." 

It comes out stronger this time, louder and she actually jumps, looks at him with wide eyes. He knew she didn't hear him the first time, so intent was she on her task. "Have you found something?" 

He shakes his head, hates the slight slump of her shoulders. Bad enough that he sees that with Iris at the moment. "It's midnight," he tells her. "Time to call it a night."

Caitlin shakes her head, lips pressed in a thin line. "Just a little longer." 

"Partner." Joe sighs, stands up and winces when his knees crack. He soldiers on, walks the couple of steps to stand at her side, sits down on the edge of her desk. "Caitlin." Her eyes shut as he uses her name because that's usually reserved for outside work. "You need some rest... we both do." 

Her lips are pressed together so tightly that they have almost disappeared. "I just keep thinking of him out there... with Wells..." A shudder wrecks her body and it takes all of Joe's not inconsiderable reserves of self control not to reach out and pull her into his arms. "Who knows what he's doing to him?" Her voice is a whisper that Joe can hardly hear, even this close. It's like she's afraid to voice her fears, to bring a possibility into the universe. He knows that feeling; it's one he shares. "We have to find him."

"We will." Joe looks around and, finding the precinct practically deserted, one lone officer seated near the door, another a few desks  behind Caitlin with his back to them, he takes a risk. He moves his hand so that it covers Caitlin's, their bodies hopefully rendering the sight invisible to either of the two if they turn around to them. "But you can't make yourself sick doing it." To be honest, he's almost more worried about the fact that her hand, rarely warm at the best of times, is freezing and he finds himself hoping that Cisco stress tested the hell out of that implant before he injected it into her. Even if he did - and it's Cisco, of course he did - Joe's not sure that it was ever made to stand up to this. 

"I just... I need to do something." 

"Taking care of yourself isn't doing nothing," he reminds her, and when her eyes meet his, he presses his advantage. "And if Eddie were here, you know he'd tell you the same thing." 

Caitlin looks down, a soundless huff of laughter escaping her lips. "You quoting Eddie to me," she murmurs and against all odds, a smile tugs at his own lips too. "Now that's something I never thought I'd hear."

"You tell him, I'll deny it." He's only half joking too. Caitlin's hand turns under his, her fingers closing around his palm and he uses that self control again not to lift it, raise it to his lips. "Come home with me." His voice is low and he knows her answer when he sees a shiver ripple along her shoulders. "We'll start again in the morning." 

She nods. "OK." 

Joe stands, lets go of her hand with some reluctance. Tapping the edge of the desk with his index and middle finger, he lifts one eyebrow. "I leave first, you follow me in five minutes?" He's a little suspicious if he does that, she'll lose track of time, either accidentally or on purpose, and it'll be hours before he sees her. 

He's surprised when she clicks the mouse a couple of times, then stands up. "I'll follow you now," she says and he blinks. "Separate cars," she says which makes sense because talking about this in the precinct even at this hour of the night might be reckless but they're not completely insane. "I'll see you there." 

He grabs his jacket from the back of his chair, shrugs into it and looks down at her. "We will find him," he says and he sees her hand move, sees her fingers twitch like she's going to reach for him. She stops herself with visible effort and he's strangely disappointed. 

"I know." She whispers the word and when she looks up at him, there's the faintest sheen of tears in her eyes, utter despair on her face. "I just want to go home, Joe." 

He doesn't blink, holds out one arm towards the door. "Ladies first." 


End file.
